Corsair Vengeance M65 Review

The peripheral market is currently festooned with competitive mice from a wide range of manufacturers, and since Corsair diversified from the core business of memory, PSUs and cases they have been a strong presence never to be underestimated. Early last year we had the pleasure of reviewing the Vengeance M60, a heavily styled gaming mouse with striking looks and performance to match, which deservedly earned our Gold Award; one year on, the Vengeance M65 is an incremental evolution of that mouse.

The M65 joins the Vengeance M95 and K95 as a part of a refresh of their peripheral line-up for 2013, in most cases concentrating on making small changes for a more well-rounded whole. The headline change made in the design of the M65 is the inclusion of the 8200DPI Avago ADNS-9800 LaserStream Gaming Sensor, substantially upgrading from the previous 5200DPI sensor, although the promotional material also boasts access to the second generation Vengeance Configuration software utility. Remaining at centre stage are the stylish exposed aluminium-chassis design, sniper button and configurable weight system seen on the M60.

Designed for serious gamers, the Vengeance M95 and M65 mice are built upon an ergonomic aluminum unibody chassis and fitted with an Avago Technologies ADNS-9800 LaserStream™ gaming sensor. The new 8200 DPI sensor provides a 30% boost in tracking resolution versus last generation mice, for increased speed and lethal precision when moving, looking, and targeting. The new mice incorporate new ruggedized, high-precision button switches for rapid triggering and solid durability. In addition, both mice feature on-the-fly resolution switching, programmable lift detection, a high-mass scroll wheel, and PTFE glide pads.

The Vengeance M65 is designed for FPS enthusiasts. It features an innovative Sniper button, allowing an instant toggle from fast movement, high DPI-resolution mode down to a high-precision mode for more accurate aiming. Its aluminum body has an adjustable center of gravity to allow gamers to balance the mouse to their preference. The Vengeance M65 is available in three colors— Military Green, Arctic White and Gunmetal Black.

Even though the Vengeance M65 is tailored to FPS gaming, we shall also be putting it through its paces in Action-RPG and RTS gaming to assess its practicality as a peripheral for a modern gamer with a range of gaming tastes. Given that Rich outlined the software as a weakness of the M60 in his review last year, we'll also be paying particular attention to the M65's release software suite and assess how marked any improvements have been.